Egypt

2011

CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed
Abdel Dayem spoke to Democracy Now! on February 5 about the deteriorating
environment for journalists in Egypt. He told host Amy Goodman that state
news outlets have become something unrecognizable: "State-owned media are no
longer engaged in the business of news," Abdel Dayem said. "They are there to
propagate things that are simply not true. " See the rest here:

February 8, 2011 10:11 AM ET

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New York, February 7, 2011--Egyptian
authorities have shifted their strategy for obstructing the press as protests
enter their 14th day: The military has become the predominant force
detaining journalists and confiscating their equipment rather than plainclothes
police or government supporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today. Authorities have also put in place new bureaucratic obstacles for
journalists covering the anti-Mubarak protests on Tahrir Square, with the
military instructing reporters to seek new press credentials from the
government.

New York, February 5, 2011--As journalists face
ongoing attacks and detentions in Cairo, they are increasingly concerned that
state broadcasts are creating an atmosphere that is encouraging violence against
the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. State television
and radio, along with pro-Mubarak private stations, are giving frequent airtime
to presenters and guests who claim that foreigners, including international
journalists, have a "hidden agenda" against the government, according to CPJ
research. Local journalists have been called "infidels" for working with
international media while Al-Jazeera has been accused of "inciting the people."

New York, February 4, 2011--Journalists in Cairo faced assaults, detentions, and threats again today as supporters of President Hosni Mubarak continued their efforts to obstruct news coverage of protests demanding the Egyptian leader's ouster. While the extent of attacks lessened after a peak on Thursday, ongoing anti-press activities remain at an alarming level that must be halted, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In addition, a journalist shot a week ago while filming a demonstration died today, a state newspaper reported, and Al-Jazeera reported that security
agents detained the network's Cairo bureau chief along with another journalist.

New
York, February 3, 2011--EgyptianPresident
Hosni Mubarak unleashed an unprecedented and systematic attack on international
media today as his supportersassaulted
reportersin
the streets while security forces began obstructing and detaining journalists
covering the unrest that threatens to topple his government.

New York, February 2, 2011--Supporters
of President Hosni Mubarakhave begun
violently attacking journalists reporting on the streets of Cairo today, a
shift in tactics from recent media censorship, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said. CPJ calls on the Egyptian military to provide protection for journalists.

"The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs. The situation is frightening not only because our colleagues are suffering abuse but because when the press is kept from reporting, we lose an independent source of crucial information."

Internet connectivity has been restored to Egypt, though it's
hard to tell from the outside just how reliable that connection is.
Monitoring organizations
Renesys and BGPMon provide technical details on their blogs.
For a more dynamic display, RIPE, the community which helps
co-ordinate the European Internet, has a live graph of the numbers of
Internet routes to Egypt which currently shows the country's
return.

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Last night at 20:54 UTC, Noor Group, the only remaining Internet
service provider in Egypt with a consumer broadband service,
depeered with the rest of the Internet. There are now only 12 Egyptian networks connected to the Net, none of which appear to be
offering public connections.

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As massive protests endure throughout Egypt, the regime
continues to disrupt the media as well as phone and Internet service. CPJ is
closely following the censorship of the news, and will update on our blog today
as developments break. Here's what's new:

Hosni Mubarak's regime has had 29 years to perfect its always
brazen but never convincing justifications for repressing journalists who
expose the travesties he and his henchmen regularly visit upon the people of
Egypt. It has also long enlisted state-owned media to disseminate the ruling
party's half-truths and outright lies. But over the past week, Mubarak's
propaganda machine has hit a new low.